The mother of the child I held gave me a worried look. "Was that planned?"
"Yes," I assured her. "Since most of us never had a relationship with our parents that was worth talking about, we know how important it is." I bounced the little girl I was holding and then tickled her cheek to get a smile. "Parents aren't meant to be perfect. They're meant to keep trying over and over until they figure it out." I passed the baby back to her. "The problem comes in when the parents stop trying. And then, it's only the child who suffers."
"Which is why y'all are working so hard to take care of these troubled teens, right?"
I nodded. "I used to be one. I yelled, and I lashed out, and I was convinced I hated everyone - but I was just scared and alone. Took me a long time to figure that out, and it probably never would've happened if it hadn't been for Vera Dawson. You know, she used to always tell us that we could never pay her back for this, so we needed to pay it forward. That's all we're trying to do."
"Well, my husband told Don Campbell that he needs to vote yes on Southwind, and we're both going to that meeting to support you."
I thanked her, then moved to the next, and then the one after that. A few of the girls were shy around me, others were thrilled to get any attention. I schmoozed up the kids, fawning over them the way they deserved, and then it was time.
"Okay," I said as I headed over to stand in front of the hearth. "Fingers crossed that we don't end tonight's party the same way as the last time."
"Maybe you should just hide Violet from the police," someone said. "I think those men are jerks because they're all scared of her."
I just pointed at my chest. "And you think I'm not? For anyone who is confused, that woman runs Southwind. Not me, not Cy, not Luke, but her. She says to jump and we start saying, 'yes, mistress.'" I smiled to show I was mostly joking. "Now, the theme of tonight's party is pajamas. Before all of you get too excited, just know that there might also be some lingerie, a few swimsuits, and a little bit of loungewear thrown in there too. You see, when I plan these, I just call up Leslie, who's in the office in New York and tell her a general idea of what I want to do. She ships me the things that we need to get more feedback on."
"Is that the nineteen-year-old we heard about last summer?" Maisie asked.
I looked at her and nodded. "She is now a twenty-year-old, and she is currently the youngest Chief Operating Officer of any multimillion-dollar company in the United States. Granted, there are a couple of multimillionaire startups, but they own the company. After my grandmother passed away last March, I stopped caring about the daily operations of Risqué. I basically let everything go so that I could take care of the people who mattered to me." And I gestured at all of the Shades standing around the room. "At that time, Leslie was working for a temp agency and had been assigned to my office as a receptionist. I disappeared for a week."
I looked around the room, making sure everyone was listening. "In a business that size, ignoring things for a day is bad. Doing it for a week is how Fortune 500 companies fall apart. Imagine my surprise when I headed back to the office to find that not only was my company still running, but we had managed to make a profit."
"Because of Leslie?" Bev asked.
I nodded. "Because a nineteen-year-old with an incredible passion for fashion had been paying attention to what I did in the office, and then tried to copy it. This girl's dream was to one day work in the fashion industry. She had done her research, she was currently enrolled in college, and she was pursuing a degree in fashion. To me, it was a no-brainer. I don't care how much education or experience someone has; it will never make up for truly loving what they're doing. Leslie loves this job, and she can run the company better than I can - so I let her. Now, here I am doing what I am honestly passionate about. I get to talk about amazing clothes with people I call friends."
"Aw, we love you too, Ash," Emily said.
I just pointed at her. "I also have something special for you. I mean, since you don't have a daughter."
Then I started passing out a quickly made, special-edition catalog that Leslie had put together just for this event. Maybe the pages weren't as glossy as normal, and the layout wasn't the finest we've ever done, but I was honestly impressed at how much effort she put into this.
"Unlike most of our catalogs that you will see, this is special," I told the woman. "This is the Cats Peak edition, and it comes with special discounts and codes that no one outside of this room will ever see - unless you happen to share your catalog with them."
"So we get special stuff?" Deena asked, sounding just a little too excited about that.
"Special prices," I corrected. "You also get to see a few things from next year's catalog a little early. Now, I want everyone to pause for just a moment and look at that gorgeous model who is on the cover."
There was a rustling of paper as everyone in the room turned their catalog over and looked at the very front. Someone gasped in surprise, another person awed, and then Meredith suddenly stood up quickly. Beside her, Faith was grinning with more pride than I had ever seen on the girl's face before.
Because the cover of this catalog had a picture of Faith on her horse, with Luke leading them out of the barn. Violet had been on the other side of the horse, but a little photo magic had removed her to give Faith the spotlight. And yes, I had made sure that Faith was okay with this before anything was printed. She just wanted her mother to see that she could actually be pretty.
"That's you, Faith," Meredith said.
"Yep," Faith agreed. "Dad's just there to look pretty, but that's one of the special pieces that Ash made for me. It's called the Lilac Line because I like lilac. And the horse is Onyx. He was my birthday present."
"You're a model?" another young girl in the room asked.
I swore Faith grew, even though she didn't stand up. "Sometimes. Violet and Ash have been showing me how to do it, but I have more fun designing the clothes. See, inside…" Faith quickly flipped through the pages until she found what she wanted. "On page 24 is the shirt I designed. Well, Ash helped me, but the idea for the picture is all mine."
So I reached into the box beside me and pulled out two packages. "Meredith?" I called, lifting the plastic-wrapped outfits in a gesture that was asking if she would catch them. "The big one's for you. The little one is for Faith." Then I tossed them over. "Technically, those don't even come out until next year."
Meredith looked stunned as she unwrapped the package of matching pajamas. The style was simple, just a fitted T-shirt and capri pants, but the print on them was what Faith had designed. Across the front of the shirt was a multicolored unicorn. Most of it was lilac, but there were hints of violet, magenta, cyan, and emerald in there as well. The pants had a smaller version of the same unicorn in different positions covering them completely.
Once Meredith got the whole thing unwrapped, she stood up and showed it off to everybody else in the room. "My daughter designed this," she bragged.
"Unicorns?" someone else asked. "I am definitely gonna need a set of those."
